Bryson Stott

Stott superbly rebounded from a rough freshman campaign with an outstanding sophomore season which saw him finish as the eighth most valuable second baseman by earned auction value in standard leagues. His 31 steals were third best at the position and he provided volume in all five scoring categories while hitting in three different spots of the lineup over the course of the season. Stott's biggest improvements came from reducing his strikeout rate by 18% year over year and using all fields to vastly improve his batting average. It would be nice to see him drive up his walk rate so that his on base percentage was not so dependent upon batted ball fortunes. If he could push his OBP up over .350, 40-plus steals would be possible with more attempts as he was 91% successful in his 34 attempts last season. Stott is expected to hit in the bottom half of the lineup as the top three spots in Philadelphia are not moving and Stott lacks the thump to hit fourth or fifth.

A strong Grapefruit League season earned Stott a spot on the Phillies' Opening Day roster. He played sparingly, getting some reps and third and second. After posting a .114/.173/.129 line over his first 25 games spanning 70 plate appearances, Stott was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He was recalled two weeks later, again playing sporadically. Beginning in June, Stott was installed as a regular, splitting time between second and shortstop the rest of the season. From that point, Stott slashed .258/.318/.403 with a dozen steals. He doesn't hit the ball with much authority, but Stott puts it in play and has 91st percentile sprint speed. He's slated to be a regular in 2023, and the signing of Trea Turner means he'll slot in at second base. Josh Harrison and Edmundo Sosa are also in the mix as utility options off the bench, so there may not be a significant lease if Stott struggles early in 2023. Stott's homers are capped in the low teens, but he may run more with the new rules.

Stott's dynasty value steadily trended up in 2021, culminating in him being one of the most impressive players in the Arizona Fall League. He hit .299/.390/.486 with 16 home runs, 10 steals, a 22.2 K%, a 13.3 BB% and a strong 33.1 Hard% as a 23-year-old playing at High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. The lefty-hitting shortstop then hit .318/.445/.489 with two home runs, five steals and significantly more walks (24) than strikeouts (14) in 26 games as one of the older true prospects in the AFL. He is already 24, so Stott needs to keep this momentum going, but he is a jack of all trades who has never logged a wRC+ below 130, so it seems like a safe bet to project him as an everyday option sooner than later. Batting average and runs are his two avenues to being a category anchor in fantasy, and while he could hit double-digit home runs with double-digit steals, he is unlikely to reach 25 home runs or 15 steals in a season. There is not much left for Stott to prove in the minors, and if the DH comes to the National League, it's easy to see how Stott would fit in -- Alec Bohm would slide to first base and Rhys Hoskins would DH. He would otherwise be waiting on an injury to get his shot, or perhaps the Phillies would shift Didi Gregorius into utility role.

It was a pretty uneventful year for Stott, who still hasn't made his full-season debut after getting selected out of UNLV with the No. 14 overall pick in 2019. He spent the summer at the alternate training site, where he attempted to make strides against a mediocre crop of pitchers. Stott is a patient hitter who should make enough contact, but he is unlikely to develop plus power or a plus hit tool. Defensively, he can handle shortstop but on most teams he would end up at second base or third base. He is a solid runner who should chip in a little on the bases. Stott doesn't have any glaring holes, but he also doesn't have any carrying tools, so he will need to make it as a sum-of-the-parts prospect. The Phillies have a really weak farm system, so the fact that shortstop and second base are up for grabs long term gives him an inside track at getting a fairly long look sometime in the next year or two.

Stott can do a little bit of everything, but he lacks a plus tool and the sum of the parts may not equate to a very exciting player. Rather than assign him directly to a full-season affiliate, as is often the case with advanced college hitters, the Phillies were content to let the 14th overall pick dominate against rookie-level and short-season pitchers. He showed patience (12.4 BB%) with some power and speed, but it's hard to put much stock in his post-draft production. If he had struggled, we could ding him, but a player of his age and pedigree should have handled those levels with ease. The jump in competition from the New York-Penn League to Low-A or High-A is significant, and we do not know how Stott's skills will translate. His ceiling is an Andrew Benintendi-esque offensive producer at shortstop, but if he falls short of that, he would bat in the bottom-third of an MLB lineup.